Saturday, November 12, 2011

Hollywood Series- Kate Middleton

Hello everyone! This is Justina and I am going to show you a spin off on the Kate Middleton look! She embodies everything a girl would want to be- elegant, beautiful, stylish, glamorous, and more, and she makes it look simple.

Here I am going to do my best to recreate her look. The easiest way to recreate any look is to decide what are the key elements to the person's look that makes it THEIR look. I looked through several pictures of Kate, and here are the key elements I was able to find: simple and refined hair with loose curls at the ends, natural looking makeup, a strong brow, natural eye makeup with the liner going all the way around the lid, a light matte bronzer all over, and a peachy shade on the cheeks.

In recreating this, I thought, what else do I attribute to Kate Middleton? Of course, whenever anyone thinks of her they think BLUE- because of her iconic sapphire surrounded in diamonds wedding ring, and the infamous blue dress she wore when she announced her engagement to Prince William. I also love the jewelry she wears- always some simple drop earrings or a very elegant bracelet. Although replicas are easy to come by of her engagement ring, I opted out of including that in my look, since that is definitely an accessory personal to HER, and wanted to spin this look off and make it ME at the same time. So...I incorporated my brand new blue ZOYA nail polish as my "something blue." If you want to know more about this polish, please watch for a blog that will be coming soon as Jessica and I review November's Birchbox.

P.S. The soundtrack of my beauty blog was Pandora Radio tuned to "Sarah Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson." Not sure what Kate would be listening to, but I think she would approve!

Skin prep:
The first thing I did was refresh my face by using RoC Daily Resurfacing Disks. I found these at my local Walgreens for around $10. I started with these because my face never feels cleaner and more perfect than when I wash with these, and since Kate has flawless skin, I thought it an appropriate way to start!

I also used C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Buffer Gentle Formula to exfoliate my lips. You can find this at your local Bath and Body Works for under $10. It's the best lip buffer around as far as I'm concerned, and I want to make sure my nude lip color goes on smooth as silk.

While still in the prep stage, I also applied some Crest White Strips. Every smile looks better when your teeth are a little whiter!

I applied Clinique's Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel to suck up any excess oil so I get a nice matte finish once I start my makeup stage!

Face:
I wanted to get a really matte finish, so I started by applying Clinique's Perfectly Real Makeup to my face with a foundation brush. I then applied Clinique's Moisture Sheer Tint Makeup in a shade about 2 shades too dark for my natural skin color just to my cheeks, middle of my forehead, and chin. I used Hard Candy Glamoflauge Concealer in the light shade around my nostrils, around my lips, and the sides of my nose leading up to my inner eyes. Lastly, I finished off with Lancome Dual Finish Versatile Powder Makeup in a shade that matches my exact skin tone, and applied it with the makeup pad that came in the case. The result was a very matte finish with a slight natural glow, but with no shimmer.

On to bronzing and contouring! I used theBalm's Bahama Mama Bronzer (dark and matte) and a small contouring blush brush to apply the product to the apples of my cheeks, and my entire hairline from ear to ear. Next, I applied the brush by contouring it underneath my jaw and chin. Lastly, I smiled, and where my smile lines appear around my mouth, I lightly applied some of this matte bronzer in the smile line creases. Nars Orgasm blush got it's turn next lightly on the apples of my cheeks.

Eye Makeup:
I started with Estee Lauder's Double Wear Stay-in-Place Eyeshadow Base from lid to brow. Next up was Lancome's Color Design eyeshadow in Latte (Matte) which I applied to the entire lid. Pink Pearls eyeshadow from the same line went on the bottom part of my lid. The last eye shade I added was just a touch of Colour Du Jour (Metallic) from the same line. I added just the slightest wash of color from this shadow that is barely there. Next on my eye agenda was eyeliner. I thought I'd keep going with some of the shades from Lancome that I recently got in their holiday set, so I went with their Eyeliner Pencil in Black Ebony. I lined around the entire eye (not water lines) and including around the tear duct. A sharp pencil is a must for this expedition!!

At this point, I took another look at the picture I have of Kate, and tried to access if she wears fake eyelashes. It does not seem that she does, but her eyeliner application is absolutely precise in every picture I have seen of her, and she is a little more generous around the outer corners. I definitely took my time with this, and made sure to keep it precise, and not smokey. With such a neutral and perfectly subtle eye shadow shade, it's not like I could blend any mistakes back into the eyeshadow. I also recommend taking a q-tip with some eye makeup remover and going back to touch up any spots that have smudged. And keep your hands off your eyes!! This is eye allergy season and many times when I was using my very sharp eye pencil to create this look I stopped myself just BEFORE totally smudging and wrecking my eye.

Ok- next- right below my tear duct, I decided to create a tiny bit more contouring near my nose because her nose is just a touch more narrow than mine. For this I used Rimmel Natural Bronzer in Sunlight. I applied with my right ring finger, and also went over the top of my nostrils on my nose to contour those since hers are more pronounced than mine. Very important not to get too Snooki with this! She has a bronze look to her skin, but definitely not overly tan. It just appears that just gets some sun every so often. Her nose also goes up just a little on the end so I took a cotton ball with the tiniest dab of concealer to lighten mine and get the same look. I used Glamoflauge again for this.

If you look at up close and personal pictures of the Duchess, it definitely looks like she lines her lower water lines with a light pencil. I used the one that comes with Hard Candy's Glamoflauge- the pencil concealer in light. I finished off by using L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black on my lashes for that really inky lash look, while still staying natural. Focus outward as you are applying. Do NOT wreck your water line here. If you do, go back and do it again. The water line part is super important.

I used Lancome's eyeliner in Black Coffee to go over my eyebrows lightly to try and get the same shape as hers. Hers are naturally more straight across with a lot of the hair concentrated right in the center, where her arch is. It took a little time, but I got pretty close. Don't use too much eye brow pencil or it will look super harsh.

Next- Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balm in Peppermint to make your lips nice and soft. Follow with Lancome Color Design Lipstick in Love it (Cream) and top with Lancome's Juicy Tubes lipgloss in Tickled Pink.

Last step of all for the makeup- I took Benefit's Moon Beam and put the spotlight on just a couple places on my face where she seems to be the most luminous.

Hair: Make sure you part your hair just slightly to the right (line it up with the middle being your nose). Sweep any bangs you might have to the side, and do a few ringlets just on the bottom. I also spritzed my hair a few times with MoroccanOil Glimmer Spray.